


Heartsick

by missingAlife



Category: Six of Crows - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 15:47:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10620075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missingAlife/pseuds/missingAlife
Summary: Izy is a Marksman with a dark past. She met a specific someone when she was younger, what happens when she later learns she will have to meet with him in a way she would rather not have to deal with. Someone is after her, she is after two others, one of them is after the other in a way she does not want to deal with. This is the story of Izy Avinov, a story of Love, Death, Magic, and Betrayal."They say I'm a traitor. Maybe I am. I just know I did what I had to do."





	1. ONE- IZABELLA

“They told me you’re the girl to see.”

I stepped out from behind the shadows into the dim lighting of the ally. “For what?”

“Murder.”

“Who do you need killed.” I looked at the man in front of me.

“Caleb Lane.”

“The man your wife is cheating on you with?”

“How did you-”

“Go. I don’t do something out of pettiness. Find someone else that will, because unlike Dirty Hands I have dignity.”

I turned around and began walking away waiting for the response I was looking for. “A thousand _kruge._ I will pay you a thousand _kruge_.”

“Make it eleven and you have a deal.”

“I can’t afford that…”

“Well, I hope you have fun knowing that Caleb Lane is currently banging your wife.”

“Fine! The most I can do is six thousand… I’ll pay if you can answer a question for me.”

“Depends on the question.” I told him.

“Is it true that you’re a heartrender, but you don't use your powers because you killed your entire family?”

“I use magic,” I held up my metal hand, “and all of the rumors come from a once true story.” I clenched the hand into a fist. He fell to the floor. His hands around his throat. “It’s a real shame your wife got here first.” His lips started to blue. “Plus, I like to believe ten thousand _kruge_ is a lot more than six thousand.”

“M-m.” He choked out.

“What was that? Monster? I get that a lot.” I let go of his throat and took a knee next to him, placing my metal arm and his shoulder. “Do you want to know why I only use certain parts of my magic? Because the last time I slowed someone's heart down, I killed someone I loved. I don’t slow peoples hearts down… but I will do this.” I clenched my fist and made a jerking motion causing the bones in his neck to snap. “Good bye, Dominick Stuart.”

I grabbed his arm and slung it over my shoulder. I tailored his features so he looked drunk, not dead, which included fixing the break in his neck. It was harder because he was dead then it would have been if he was alive. Walking down the streets of the Barrel I fit right in with what the merchants call Barrel rats, with many others with piercings and tattoos, some carrying other drunk friends down the road.

“Hey, pretty lady!” A guy behind me called. “That skirt is a little short.” He was closer. “It would be a real shame if something…” - closer - “happened.” He grabbed my butt. I dropped Dominick and turned around quickly hitting the man with my hair and then grabbing his neck with my metal hand, shoving him against the wall.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Hey! Izy! Is that you?” I turned to see the other voice.

“Not now Micah!” I called to him.

He walked over to me his blonde hair jumping into his left eye. “Did this guy do something to you or do you often have a metal hand around a guy’s throat?” I glared at him. “Hey, I told you before that skirt is suggestive.” He put his hands up in defense.  

“This ‘guy’ is named Kipling Yin, and if he touches me again I’m going to find his son and snap his neck, and go to his very pregnant wife and put a knife in her stomach.” I pushed down harder on his neck and let him go. “You’re lucky I don't need to bodies to deal with.”

When he ran past Micah, Micah flicked his fingers at him. “Poison, not enough to kill, but enough to wipe his memory of us.”

“I can do that myself Micah.” I defended. “Let's go throw a dead body over a bridge.”

“Not the weirdest thing to happen to us today.” Micah said flipping his bangs across his forehead out of his green eyes. The walked to the reapers barge, and once they arrived they threw the body off the bridge.

“Not the weirdest thing to happen to us today.” Micah said flipping his bangs across his forehead out of his green eyes. We walked to the reapers barge, and once we arrived we threw the body off the bridge.

"No, but the weirdest thing is still yet to come I'm sure."

"You know Izy, why do you even wear your skirt?" He asked, it looked like his blonde hair was poking him in the eye.

"It's easy to fight in." I shrugged. "It keeps people distracted. Are you hungry?"

"What? Yeah? Izy, you know we haven't had a decent meal for the past few weeks." He paused and stopped walking. "You took his wallet didn't you?"

"Yeah, and I need to collect my debt. Also, I didn't take Dominick's wallet, just Kipling's… One of these days Micah, we will be able to stop doing these petty jobs, we will be able to live peacefully, maybe we will find someone to settle down with, not have to kill, not have to fight. Do you ever just get sick of it?"

"Izy, it's a dog eat dog world. If we stop fighting, we will die. We would have to become a mercenary if we want to live comfortably, but even then you know we will always have to check over our-" I tackled him into an alleyway. "Izy! What are you doing."

"Shut up, I hear someone coming." I stood up and started climbing up the side of the building. I realized she was close to the fifth harbor, which was run by the Dregs. There were two people talking to each other. It was hard to hear with the soft wind running through my ears.

"I still don't know what we have to do with this." The first one said.

"Look, Holst, we are doing this for the _kruge_. You know how bad our city salaries are." I jumped down onto one of the crates scattered across the harbor, even though I would have to move again later. As soon as the two came into view I knew exactly who they were, and the reason I know them is a sad one. 

 

I was running in the hay field behind the house with my younger brother, Alexi. My older brother Kir, was working in town trying to help mother and father make money because our crop wasn't good this year. Alexi always had trouble with his heart when he ran, it was always too fast to be good. Even though when you run your heart speeds up, his was faster than that. 

We had just got done running to the far end of the field, away from the house, when Alexi looked like he was about to pass out from his heart over pumping and not enough oxygen getting into his blood.

"Don't worry Alexi, I'm going to help you get your heart rate back down." I told him. I lifted up my hand and concentrated on his heart beat. I could hear it clearly when I wanted it to.  _Bump, bump. Bump, bump. Bump, bump._ It was going to fast, and it wasn't in an even rhythm.

"I trust you Izabella." He said. "I want to be able to run with you." I took in a deep breath and focused on slowing his heart. 

_Bump, bump._

I watched him as his heart slowed down, he started to look relieved. Then his lips started to turn blue, his eyes started to hollow, he started grasping at his chest. 

_Bump, ~~bump.~~_

"Alexi?" I ran over to him. "Alexi are you okay?"

_~~Bump.~~ _

His heart stopped. He was eight years old, I had just turned twelve. 

I called out for my parents and they rushed over. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion. "What happened to him, Izabella?!" Father yelled, tears brimming his brown eyes. "Izabella, what did you do?!"

"I tried to calm his heard down, but-but it just stopped. I'm so sorry."

"Go!" Mother had yelled. "Leave this house! You monster, you are not my child."

I stood there looking at Alexi's body being held my mother. "Please, Mother... Don't make me leave..."

"I'm giving you time before I call the Guard." He silver eyes pierced through me as if I was nothing but a window. 

I took off running away from them. I tripped over a hidden rock and skinned my knee. When I got up, I ran, I didn't get far enough. Holst and Van Daal were the ones to find me when I was hiding under a bridge. I ended up going to jail, where I met a boy a year older than I was and we became friends, but I got out two years later when Alarik Pane paid for my leave. I hadn't seen the boy ever since. 

 

"I know we're doing it for the  _kruge,_ I'm not an idiot, but why did the Black Tips need us?" Holst asked. 

I watched them as they separated and stood on opposite sides of the street. "We are getting a thousand kruge." Van Daal told Holst. "A thousand kruge is a thousand kruge. Why would you complain?" Van Daal went into his building away from me, Holst went into the one next to me. It was a small two story building, Holst would most likely go on the roof and use his sniper from there. He was making this too easy, I thought smirking. I got a running start and ran up the side of the building using the window ledges as leverage to get onto the roof. I winced when my feet hit the roof louder than I had wanted them to originally, but Holst wasn't up there yet. Although when I found a spot to see everything going on below and remain hidden from below, Holst was on the roof with his sniper in hand.  

Suddenly I was tackled and thrown down from the roof, causing me to do a diving roll to prevent any potential damage to my spine. As soon as I was up, someone tackled me down again. I noticed that he had a tattoo on his arm, and it was the same one I had once had before my arm blew off. I rolled out from under him and got a steady base. Out of instinct I drew a knife from the holster around my thigh. 

"Hello, Avinov." One had said.

"Xander Greene and Ciel Traves... Long time no see." I said to them.

"Turns out Alarik was right." Ciel said cracking his knuckles and his neck simultaneously. 

"Isn't he always." I said back to them. "What he say?"

"That you would probably be here to cause trouble." Xander was twirling something between his fingers... A dagger...

"You guys know you can't take me, even the two of you cant do that." I said threatening them. 

What Ciel said next was haunting to me. "But you see, you have a price on your head... And none of us are willing to pass it up."


	2. 2-MICAH

I hate to admit it, but Izy is great at sneaking around, until there is someone that knows how to find her. I'm pretty sure that's how Xander and Ciel found her. When I arrived she was in her fighting stance, and I could tell from the anger radiating off of the other two she was going to need some back up. Seeing Izy cornered between two people that were much bigger than her made the magic course through my veins faster than before, maybe even stronger than before, and I know that I can't leave her alone with them. 

"Hey!" I said running towards them like I'm an old friend, though in reality all I know about them is war stories I've heard through Izy.

"Micah..." She said through gritted teeth, she had two daggers in both hands and throwing knives in her sheath. 

"Is this the lap dog you ran away with?" The one with darker hair said.

"Xander, your battle is with me, not him. Leave Micah out of it." The look she shot me said _'go'_.

The shorter and lighter haired one grabbed my right arm and pulled up my sleeve. "He's a masseur. He can't do anything." 

"Ciel. Stop." Her silver eyes were turning red from rage, I wasn't needed here but I couldn't leave her either. 

 _"_ Why do you keep him around?" Ciel's grip was digging into my arm. "What can he do? Other than preform services to you." 

I ripped my arm away and elbowed him in the gut, Izy took this time to act against Xander. I swept my leg out and tripped Xander and lunged forward trapping Ciel beneath me. It was a quick fight, but even so, it left me exhausted. I sat with my forearm pushed against Ciel's neck. He was bigger than me, but I must have been leaking poison, because he wasn't trying anything against me. "Because I'm not a masseur. Not anymore. Just like Izy isn't one of you."

"Did she ever tell you why she had to leave?" Ciel whispered.

"Because her arm was blown off, and Alarik forced her." I said back.

"Go and ask her for the truth, why Alarik had to get her to leave." He said. "She really is a monster."

"Izy, what do you want to do with them?" I didn't break eye contact with Ciel, but he wasn't looking away either. 

"We should kill them." She spat at Xander. "No one would notice two more crooks missing-"

"I could say the same about you darling." Xander said back to her.

"But I have a message for Alarik. Tell him he failed. I'm not going back down that easily. I know what he wants from me, and he's not getting it that easily." She stood up off of him and put one of her daggers back in its sheath. "Come on Micah. Let's go." She walked down the ally that I had entered from.

 

"What did that guy mean?" I asked once we were back in our small chalet. "About you not telling me the truth? About the real reason Alarik made you leave." 

She placed the dish she was holding down and turned to face me, leaning back on the sink. "I don't ask about your tragic past, you don't ask about mine. It's one of the reasons I kept you around. You were the only one that didn't bring it up. Key word there 'were'."

"Izy, you're my friend you can trust me." Her silver eyes stood out against her dark black hair.

"People like us don't have friends, Micah. No matter how hard we may try. Something will go wrong, and one of us will go down without failure. I don't think you need to know about why things had happened. They say looking to the past is the same as twenty-twenty vision. You will constantly want to go back and try to fix things that are not in your reach. If you feel like you can trust me not to sell your secrets, then tell me. If not, leave well enough alone." She turned back around and finished the dishes. "You couldn't even bother telling me you're a masseur... I doubt you could trust me with anything else... They say I'm a traitor. Maybe I am. All I know is that I did what I had to do... I'm going to bed Micah. See you tomorrow."   With that she headed down the short hallway to where her bedroom was. 

Ciel may have been lying about what had happened with Izy, but I couldn't help but wonder about it. After sitting for a few more moments, I had enough and I had to leave, I wanted to know. I knew just who to go to to get that information.

 

 

My lips smashed against hers and I started kissing her. It was the only way I knew how to get her to talk. She was a client of mine when I worked at Bordeaux. I hate myself for always coming back to her, but she knew things that I would need to know. "So,  Victoria. I have a question for you." I started kissing her neck, while also trying to resist the urge to vomit. 

Victoria was a woman in her forties, that had been divorced many times and widowed once. Her past husband, the one that died, left her with many riches, enough to live comfortably for the rest of her wife. She always was wearing clothes that were a little to tight for her, and she has blonde hair that had faded with her age. She likes the 'liveliness in younger men', and because of that we call her a 'lynx'.

"Micah, honey." She said letting out a moan, causing me to almost gag. "Why is it you only come to me when you want information?"

"Are you mad about that?" I pulled away from her collarbone.

"Not at all." She pulled up her shirt exposing her stomach and chest. "What do you need to know?"

"I want to know why Izy Avinov left Phantom Pane." I leaned forward, pushing her down to the bed. She wrapped her slightly wrinkled arms around me. I'm seventeen, I shouldn't have ever had to do this... I started kissing her stomach and hips as she spoke.

"Izy was having some problems with Alarik Pane, even before her left arm was taken off. She started getting into more fights and eventually she went missing."

"Missing how?" I sat up and looked at her.

"You've done enough Micah. Just sit and listen." She started to put her shirt back on. "Izy started talking to this person named Pekka Rollins, who later went onto betray her. She was asking about this boy who's name I can't remember, but she never found him. 

"I met her one day when I was waiting for you to be done with a client, if you could call her that, when I saw Izy. There was something different about her that day; she still had the piercings on her ears, eyebrows, lip, nose, and the little holes on her ears, I don't know what you guys call them, but this day she seemed to be on a sort of mission.

"She went into one of the rooms where a person was waiting for a small Shu boy. When she came out, the girl was dead, and no one traced it back to Izy. Well no one except one person... The girl she killed that day was Alarik's only child. When she was born she was almost guaranteed not to make it. On the same day, you got out too. You were released from Alucard's indenture on you. For whatever reason, Izy wanted you with her, I didn't hear what you said to her, but I'm glad you did. I like seeing you like this, not those silks they put you all in." She had stood up in the middle of her story.

"Thank you, Victoria." I exited out of the door, not knowing the next time I would see her again. 

 

I wandered around the streets of Ketterdam until the sun ended up rising. I walked the streets hundreds of times when I couldn't sleep, but this time I ended up someplace I would rather not be. I pulled up the sleeve that covered my right forearm. I was greeted by a sight that I could never stomach every time I looked at it. It was a red and white colored rose, white petals and a red stem. The symbol of Bordeaux. I was standing right outside the dark colored building. There were still a few ladies stumbling in and out of the brothel drunk, and the sight reminded me of the late nights I used to have. I was pulled out of bed to be shoved into a small room with a old woman who liked boys no older than fourteen. I was there for almost four years, and I learned it was better to preform than not, and I learnt it the hard way. I couldn't stand to look at it anymore, so I stormed away, trusting myself to make it back home without knowing exactly how to get there. I always do.

I did again.

Izy was asleep leaning against her arm resting on the kitchen table. I walked over to her and gently nudged her awake. "Izy, you're not in your room."

She woke up slowly. "I thought you were mad at me for saying we're not friends, I went to go apologize but you weren't here, you left. The last time I had a friend it didn't work for either of us..."

"Izy... It's okay..."

"No, Micah... it's not." She was still hardly awake. "I haven't been honest with you and I want you to be honest with me... The reason I got kicked out of Phantom Pane is because I killed Alarik's daughter... I don't even remember why I did it anymore, it was so long ago... I just know, when I left I brought you with me." She let out a soft laugh... "It feels good to get that out there..."

"Izy, it's okay... Like you said, looking back is twenty-twenty. Let's get you to bed." I lifted her up so I had an arm on her back and one under her knees. I walked down the hallway into her small bedroom, that had a cot and a dresser in it, and placed her down on the bed. "Good night, Izy." She didn't hear me. She was already asleep. 

I walked back into the kitchen and noticed she left one of her knives on the table. It made me laugh. I walked downstairs to my room and workshop in the small basement. My bed and dresser were shoved under the stairs and on the table were a bunch of hidden weapons. My head was completely empty by the time my head hit the pillow, and I fell asleep; which surprisingly enough, doesn't happen often. 


	3. 3-IZABELLA

I woke up to a thud in the kitchen, and I had to go and investigate knowing that Micah will sleep through anything. As soon as I was awake enough I felt the familiar buzz of magic through me. I rose my hands and got prepared to fight if I need to. 

As I got closer to the kitchen I heard hushed voices whisper about me.

"Are you sure this is Izy Avinov's home?" The first one, male, said.

"Positive." The second one, female, said.

"That is if she's not dead like the rumors say." A third one said.

"She's not dead. Ciel and I saw her." I knew exactly who the first person was. Xander Greene. 

"Xander, no one else has seen her since she left Phantom Payne." The second one said. "Even Brekker and the Dregs think she's dead."  I looked  into the room, trying to hide as much of myself as I could and still be able to see. Standing in my kitchen were Lucien Beckett, Xander Greene, and Marnie Clemens. Seeing Lucian again send sparks throughout my body, being reminded of memories that I have tried so hard to forget. 

Lucian was standing taller than the others, his blonde hair was pulled back into a small pony tail, exposing the dark bags under his normally bright blue eyes, that now have a fog to them. He was leaning against my counter with his arms folded. "She's not here Xander, let's just go." He started to get up to leave.

"No." Xander slammed his hands down on the table. "Izy is here. Ciel and I saw her yesterday. Supposedly this is where she lives."

"Xander, we call her the Phantom for a reason. Izy knows how to disappear, and for all we know she could actually be dead." Marnie brushed the brown hair out of her face behind her ear. "You and Ciel both said you saw her, but we all know she would have came in by now and beat us all."

Xander sighed. "You're right. With our luck, someone else beat us to her." 

"You guys go ahead. I'm going to stay here and explore." Marnie and Xander left leaving Lucian behind. They were most likely heading back to the Chalet that is the hideout for Phantom Payne. "Izy... I know you're there, please come out and let me see you..." He sounded pained.

I don't know what it was about him, but I felt like I had to let him see me. I stepped into the light of the kitchen and when he saw me, his arms fell to his side. "Lucian..." I walked over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh my god, its really you..." I whispered.

"Izy..." He ran his hands through my hair. "Oh my God... Izy. You're alive..." 

"Lucian..." I felt him bury his face in my hair. 

"Izy... The gang is looking for you... I can't stay much longer otherwise they will get suspicious. Find a job that will get you out of here. Supposedly there is a job that is dangerous, you should be okay, and it will get you out of Kerch." He grabbed my face and looked me dead in the eyes. "Promise me you will take it." 

"I promise Lucian, but why-"

"Go to Jan Van Eck. Get the job. Get out of Kerch for as long as you can, take someone with you..." I looked past him, Xander was coming back to check on Lucian. "I have to go, Izy... Go. Hide. Keep away from Phantom Payne." He kissed leaned down and kissed me, when he pulled away I wish he hadn't. It made me want to go back to a time where we could have been... I ran down to the basement as he ran from the front door.

"Micah." I pulled the blankets off of him. "Micah get up."

"Izy... go away..." 

"Micah. We have to go and we have to go now."

He sat up and brushed the sleep out of his eyes. "What's going on?"

"There's a job I have to take. We will be getting out of Kerch for it." I watched as he stood up and stretched out his long arms, his shoulders popping as he did.

"How much money?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere away from Kerch." I sighed. "Look, I don't know much, but I made a promise to someone I have never broken a promise to. We have to find Jan Van Eck, and convince him we need to get the job."

"So, we just need to up and leave? Izy, I have a life here... I can't just... Leave it."

"Micah if you stay here you wont have a life!" I yelled at him. "Micah, you can't stay! You have been seen with me, there are people after me that will continue searching until they go to Alarik with my head on a steak. Micah, they will kill you, and torment you until you talk, and they wont let you escape until they find me. I have lost too many people for you to be added to that list."

"What about Ender? I cant leave him at the Bordeaux..." Ender was a boy who was younger than Micah that started work at the Bordeaux a year after Micah did, I was not able to afford to take them both, but Micah has been saving up to pay for his indenture, but indentures are expensive.

"Micah, when we get paid, we should have enough to pay for Ender to get out. Please, come with me..."

"Okay Izy. I will." Micah nodded agreeing to the danger that was about to follow.

"First, I need to check something out... What do you know about the Dregs?"

"They're a gang in Ketterdam, part of the Crow's Club. The leader is who we all call Dirtyhands, I don't remember his actual name, I just know he has a crows head sculpted into his cane. He walks with a slight limp. He knows everything about everyone, and no one can read his bluffs. He's a thief, a crook, and should not be trusted." 

"That makes two of us."

"The Crow's Club is in walking distance from fifth harbor and a lot of the street rats go there for good liquor."

"There were three people in the house earlier today that were looking for me, and they left thinking I was dead, and they brought up the name Brekker and they brought up the Dregs. I knew a boy back when I was fourteen and still in jail, he was a year older than me, he had the last name Brekker and hated human contact. The Guards would touch his skin with bare hands and he would have to fight the urge to vomit. If the Brekker with the Dregs is the same Brekker I met in prison, then we need his help."

"Alright Izy. Let's go for a walk."  


	4. 4-KAZ

I knew something weird was going to happen as soon as the girl in the black assassin outfit and a guy wearing a dark hooded shirt walked into the crows club together. The guy was a half a foot taller then the girl, but the girl radiated power. I could tell by the way she held her self, and how she walked with a purpose. She could have been a marksman, or a mercenary, but she seemed familiar. 

"She's mine." I said to Jesper. "Deal with the boy."

His white teeth clashed against his dark skin. "My pleasure." He jumped over the bar and walked over to the blonde boy, who has now removed the hood of his shirt.  

I watched as the girl pulled her hood slightly back, most likely thinking about scolding him, but siding against it. She walked over to where I was standing behind the bar. "What can I get for you?"

"Whiskey." She pulled her hood back revealing her pale face, dark hair and many piercings on her lips, nose, eyebrows and ears.

"A little strong for a good girl like you," I asked raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't you think?"

"If I were a good girl, what would I be doing in a place like this?"

"Looking for information. On who or for what, I hope I can find out." Her face seemed familiar. It was a face I've seen before, just now it was grown up. More mature. "Is it anything I can help you with?" I put the drink down in front of her and she swirled it in her hand.

"I'm looking for someone with haphephobia." The fear of human contact.

"Interesting fear. But, why look here of all places?" Was she looking for me? 

"He frequents dirty places; where blood is on everybody's hands, not just his." He silver eyes pierced through me. I felt something touch my wrist and I instantly felt ill. I looked down and she ran a finger on my exposed wrist. Even though I tried not to move, but I was too disgusted to stay still. I removed my hand from under her finger and looked at her.

"Do you need another drink?" 

"No, I'm going to go interrogate more guys. Like, the one over there flirting with Micah." She flipped the glass over and stood up from the bar stool. "I'll see you later, bartender." She walked away before I could say anything back. 

She was less casual about grabbing Jesper off of her friend and and getting the information she needs by his reaction. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled the blond boy down close to her lips and whispered something in his ear. He risked a glance up at me. From the untrained eye, you could not tell he looked up at all. After all of this, she left, and it was as if she never entered the Crows Club at all.

"Who was that?" I glanced over at Inej who stepped out of the shadows. 

"I don't know." I walked over from behind the bar and grabbed my long jacket. "I'm going for a walk."

"Be careful." Inej handed me cane. "People will be watching you, and judging to see what you were doing." 

"I always am." Inej worries about me. I have made too many enemies to ever be safe in this town again. I walked out of the front door of the Crows Club, getting hit by a burst of salty sea air. I was walking along the streets, casually grabbing watches off of wrists and wallets out of pockets, but never both. I have asked my crew; Inej, Jesper, Matthias, Wylan, Nina, what was the best way to steal a man's wallet. The reasons they give were all true, they would all work. He would give you his wallet if you shoot him. He would give you his wallet if you put a knife to his throat. Good reasons. Reasons that will work. But the best way, the quickest way is to tell him you're going to take his watch. You will never want to take both, otherwise they will get suspicious and things will get messy.  

I walked past the White Rose, and past the Menagerie where Inej had 'worked' when she was younger, past the Bordeaux. I walked nearly to the edge of town to where all there was was a small house, a chalet of some sort. 

"Inej, go back to the Crows Club." I turned around and she was standing where I could see her. 

"Kaz, let me help you."

"Inej, I don't want to depend on you to always be there if one little thing doesn't go how I've planned it. I don't like having to depend on anyone, and that includes you. Go home. I'll see you there." Her dark hair flowed in the wind.

"Kaz, please. Let me-"

"If you don't leave now, I'm not allowing you to come on the job with me and the others. There are some things not even you can help with. Go. Now." I turned away and walked to the chalet. It was a small dirt pathway that had four distinguishable pairs of foot prints heading into the house, and only two walking out. Everything except for a small part of me was saying to walk away, whatever would only allow two people to leave has to be powerful, and it might still be in the chalet. I listened to the small part, the part that was telling me to go in. I walked down the small dirt pathway leaving another set of footprints leading in.  

The front door of the small brown chalet was open, and I stepped inside. There was nothing wrong with the kitchen, there was a small table with a few plates on it, a sink, a cabinet full of hard liquor and glasses. It was normal, no signs of a struggle. I walked down the hallway; which had barren walls. You could tell the wallpaper was faded and it was almost ready to start peeling off. At the end of the hallway there were two rooms. A bathroom. A bedroom.

The bedroom was small. There was a dresser, a bag, and a bed. The bed was no bigger than a cot and the dresser was easily the biggest thing in the room. I opened the drawers looking for something, anything, that would work as a clue to who lived here.

I opened the top drawer and was greeted by a photograph, it was of a small girl with dark black hair and grey eyes sitting on a chair, with who looks like her family. A mother with light blonde hair, and the same silver eyes the girl has. Her dad had the dark black hair that was given to all of the kids. He had green eyes that went back into his head, from lack of sleep or stresses. Judging from the callouses on his hands, the dark circles under his eyes, and the barely visible tan lines that were well hidden by the shirt he was wearing in the photo, it was from working in the fields, getting ready from some sort of harvest. The girl looked to be no older than six, there was a newborn being held by the mother, and an older boy about twelve standing behind the girl on the chair between the parents. The older boy had the same dark hair and green as his father, and when he was grown up, you just knew he was going to be force to be dealt with. 

Underneath the photo was a newspaper clipping.

_**Baby brother killed by older sister** _

_October 25 was a rough day for everyone in the Avinov house. Twelve year old Izabella Avinov kill six year old Alexi Avinov in the fields that gave us this years grain supply. Izabella and Alexi were running in the fields playing as they always did, but something was different this time. Izabella had some sort of anger toward Alexi and moments later on the far end of the field, away from the house and family, Alexi Avinov was found dead with Elizabeth standing over him._   _Izabella's_ _parents, Matevi Avinov and Tatyana Avinov, called the guard moments later._

_"She's a monster..." Tatyana said. "Our baby girl turned into a monster." Tatyana broke down crying seconds after she said it._

_When Matevi answered the question to how he feels about his older daughter being sent to prison, we were shocked to hear what he had said. " No one wants to see anyone they love turn bad. But in every thing good there is evil, it just depends on how far up it is shown. Izabella allowed her's to be seen, she deserves to be where she is." Izabella will be imprisoned until she is forty years old or until someone pays for her indenture._

 

Avinov... that name, the face of the little girl. I knew her... She was in jail with me. I was fourteen, she was twelve. When she got out of the hell we were both in, was the last time I saw her. She was erased from Ketterdam, after she left Phantom Payne for reasons that no one knew. Izabella, she must live here... She must still be alive. I shoved the news clipping and photo back into the dresser and grabbed my cane. I walked as fast as I could with my messed up leg out of the house. _Izabella_ _..._

 _Izabella..._ Her name repeated over and over again in my head.  _She was twelve, I was fourteen. She was in for murder, I was in for theft. We were the youngest people there, and we instantly formed an alliance. Izabella always had her hands tied behind her back so she was not able to use them. So I taught her how to fight with her legs. She taught me how to read people. How everybody has a certain tell. Itching their noses, nostrils expanding, playing with their hair, not looking you in the eye. Tells for a lie. No one would mess with us. We were a team that no one would be able to mess with. We were both strong, good fighters, we knew how to get secrets out of people, no one wanted to get on our bad side. She was my second crush, but when she touched me, I was repulsed... It was the beginning of me noticing haphephobia. She knew about it, and she was the first one I've ever told about it. She told me I should get a pair of gloves. So i listened to her. That was the last conversation I had with her. She disappeared to be a part of Phantom Payne. Then most of her left there. Everything but her left arm..._

I walked into the Crows Club and pulled off my quote. "Kaz." Inej held up a box. "A package came for you."

I grabbed it and set it down on the nearest table. I held out my hand and Inej handed me one of her blades. I cut off the tape along the top of the box and opened it.

"Hot chocolate?" Jesper asked pulling out a packet of the chocolate powder. 

"Hot chocolate..." I whispered. 

"Does it mean something?" Inej whispered to me.

"You all need to stay down here no matter what you hear upstairs. Someone very, very dangerous sent this." I started up the stairs, heading to where my office was.

"Kaz!" Inej yelled, running up the stairs behind me. "Is it Pekka Rollins? Did something bad happen to you?"

"Inej," I placed my gloved hands on her shoulders, "I am the definition of something bad. What may or may not lie behind that door, is even worse than me. She is the embodiment of potential evil. Go down stairs. Whoever lies behind this door is here for me. I don't need anyone getting caught in the cross fire."

"Kaz, what's going on? Why are you acting like this?" She shoved my hands off her shoulder. 

"Go. I'm not telling you again."

"Kaz," she began, "I hope whoever you feel you're protecting is worth it. Because pray to the Saints that the people you're pushing away will stay for you when you need them."


	5. 5- MICAH

There were some thuds going on upstairs and everyone on Kaz's team was scared for what's going on in the room they can't see. Inej, his wraith was pacing across the bar. Jesper was playing with his guns, Nina was suffocating Matthias for saying something stupid about Grisha and Wylan was drawing something in a sketchbook. I had no clue how long Izy was going to take. I got up from the stool and walked past the pacing girl. The air outside was salty and smelt almost like old fish.  

The Bordeaux wasn't far from the Crows Club.  So that's where I went. I walked past the assorted markets and stands. The Bordeaux was the same as always. Lynx's that were covered in fancy dresses were standing out front, the occasional man that seeks comfort of other men. When I worked at the Bordeaux if you didn't preform Samson would lock you into a dark room that wasn't even large enough for you to stand up or move. He would lock you in for days sometimes without food. Sometimes he would turn up the heat in the room and some of the boys that worked for Samson would die from heat exhaustion. I walked past the Lynxes and entered the main lounge there were boys the same age as me, some older some younger. 

"Micah." Samson walked up to me, his brown hair in the same up-do its always was. His brown eyes had pure hatred towards me for leaving. "Welcome back."

"I'm here to see Ender. Not reminisce about past experiences." I matched the hatred in his eyes. I held up the  _kruge_. "I have payment if that's what you're hesitant about." 

"You have an hour." He took the  _kruge_ from me and looked back over his shoulder. "Ender! You have a costumer."

A boy smaller than me stepped out from a back room. Ender. His wavy hair had turned a lighter shade of brown and his blue eyes seemed fogged over. Well, they were until he saw me standing there. He walked faster and bent down in front of me. "Follow me, master." He quoted. It was required to call everyone her master or mistress, if you didn't you'd get the room and we were right in front of Samson. Ender grabbed my hand and pulled me into an empty room. I closed it behind me and he jumped on me, pulling me down onto the bed. "You came back. I've missed you so much..."

"I missed you too Ender." I lifted his chin so he had to look at me. "I'm going on a job... and I wont be home for a while. I just wanted to tell you so you wouldn't have thought I forgot about you." 

He kissed me softly. It was unlike the other people we've both had to kiss and do unspeakable things to, it was gentle and soft. I was the only person he could ever truly kiss like this. He was the only person I could kiss like this. He pulled away and he always left me wanting more. "I'd never assume that you have forgotten me. No matter how long the time that past would be. I know you could be on the other side of the world from me but you would still remember and you would still find your way back.'

'I promise Ender, that I will get you out of this hell. No one deserves this, especially you. You deserve the world." I kissed his cheek and then his neck. "I'll be getting two million  _kruge_. I can pay for your indenture, and we can get our own chalet, I wont have to work and we can spend all day with each other. I'll get you a garden and you can spend all day out there tending to plants and we will never have to leave and I can get a guitar and sing you soft songs as you work. I can hold you when you have nightmares and you will never have to worry about me returning because I will never have to leave." 

Someone barreled into the room and we separated. Izy was breathing heavily and looked completely panicked. "Micah, we have to go."

"What? Izy, what's going on?" I tried to get her to look at me and she wouldn't. She was frantic, shaking, pacing along the floor. "Izy, please... Tell me."

I got up from sitting next to Ender and covered Izy's hands with my own. "Phantom Payne found me. Someone at the Crows Club had to have known it was me. We have to find Van Eck and get out of Kerch." 

I looked over to Micah and was about to speak but Ender interrupted me. "Go, Izy needs you more than I do right now. I'll be here when you get back."

I rushed over and kissed him. "I love you. I promise I'll be back." I locked eyes with Izy and she left the room, I trailed behind. I have never told Ender that I loved him, and I hope that he realizes how much I truly do love him. I hope that he realizes that no matter where I am and what I'm doing that I will always go back to him. 


End file.
